Judge says it's your choice to be hit with Pop Up Ads, live with them

[dmcowen674]

Judge Rebuffs Legal Challenge to Pop-Up Ads

Judge Lee acknowledged that pop-up ads are often troublesome and annoying. "Alas, we computer users must endure pop-up advertising along with her ugly brother unsolicited bulk e-mail, 'spam', as a burden of using the Internet," he wrote.

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This clears the way for Companies such as Gator to hijack your Computer legally.

 

[LilBlinbBlahIce]

Thank god for AdAware and McCafee Spam Killer, they make my life a little easier.

 

[burnedout]

I absolutely can't stand pop-ups. Mozilla, Netscape or Google add-on for Innernet Exploder are all good friends in this case.

However, the judge may have a point about the stupid "computer user" with this statement:

"While at first blush this detour in the user's Web search seems like a siphon-off of a business opportunity, the fact is that the computer user consented to this detour when the user downloaded WhenU's computer software from the Internet," Lee said.

Perhaps if WhenU or Gator were more forthcoming about the content of pop-ups? Needless to say, both add-ons still suck.

 

[Drift3r]

Mozilla rocks ! I really can't live without it in these trying days.

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: Drift3r
Mozilla rocks ! I really can't live without it in these trying days.

 

[datalink7]

Since I've installed Opera, I haven't seen a pop-up I haven't wanted

 

[DealMonkey]

I have to say, I love the new Google toolbar. Search from anywhere, highlight search terms AND blocks pop-ups too. Very nice.

 

[Czar]

since I started using crazybrowser I havent got a single popup and since my last install "Popups Blocked: 1475"

as for spam, it should be illegal and spammers should be put to jail

 

[tcsenter]

This clears the way for Companies such as Gator to hijack your Computer legally.

Where the hell do you get this stuff?

The pop-ups at issue give the user the choice to download or not to download. I hate Gator's stupid date manager and clock synchronizer and weather tracker more than anyone, but I've never had it just 'get' on my computer. It gives the user a choice to download and install. This of course presumes the user is a bit more savvy and actually knows what the hell a download is.

God help us if the new standard for public policy is the protection of the lowest common denominator in society who are too dumb or ignorant to keep themselves from stepping in it. Oh wait, we've already been pursuing that standard for a while now.

 

[PatboyX]

i think the hijack bit is becuase there are a lot of programs that begin to install themselves with very little warning. i had a program just install itself on me going to a website. apparently, acessing it was some kind of agreement. anyway, i think the judge has a point but it also seems that the more and more people who get on the internet, the more of an issue this may become and some legislation may actually be passed.
if the judges spend no time on the internet, they may not see it as an issue.
when the people growing up with the internet as an everyday part of life become older, there will be significant changes in the way things are run.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: tcsenter

This clears the way for Companies such as Gator to hijack your Computer legally.

Where the hell do you get this stuff?

The pop-ups at issue give the user the choice to download or not to download. I hate Gator's stupid date manager and clock synchronizer and weather tracker more than anyone, but I've never had it just 'get' on my computer. It gives the user a choice to download and install. This of course presumes the user is a bit more savvy and actually knows what the hell a download is.

God help us if the new standard for public policy is the protection of the lowest common denominator in society who are too dumb or ignorant to keep themselves from stepping in it. Oh wait, we've already been pursuing that standard for a while now.

Originally posted by: PatboyX
i think the hijack bit is becuase there are a lot of programs that begin to install themselves with very little warning. i had a program just install itself on me going to a website. apparently, acessing it was some kind of agreement. anyway, i think the judge has a point but it also seems that the more and more people who get on the internet, the more of an issue this may become and some legislation may actually be passed.
if the judges spend no time on the internet, they may not see it as an issue.
when the people growing up with the internet as an everyday part of life become older, there will be significant changes in the way things are run.

I personally know many people that have had Gator and Gator like garbage installed all over their systems and they did not "willingly" download and install it. The Pop Ups are deceptive, the box that you think is to close the Pop Up Window is actually an "OK" and the OK means that the program gets downloaded and installed on your Computer in one fell swoop. The Pop Up did not specifically say the User will be downloading and installing this invasive hijacking of your browser and the computer itself for the rest of your life.

Interesting how the EULA (End User License Agreement) has gotten the size of the Bible for most Programs including the Operating system yet there is nothing but an "OK" Box that comes UP for this Gator and Gator like crap.
I'm sure there are many people on here perfectly OK with that along with apparently the Judge mentioned in this ruling.
I bet he does very little surfing and has not had his Computer "hijacked", YET.

 

[rudder]

Originally posted by: Magdalene
use firebird mozilla!

or google toolbar 2.0.

 

[tcsenter]

I personally know many people that have had Gator and Gator like garbage installed all over their systems and they did not "willingly" download and install it. The Pop Ups are deceptive, the box that you think is to close the Pop Up Window is actually an "OK" and the OK means that the program gets downloaded and installed on your Computer in one fell swoop. The Pop Up did not specifically say the User will be downloading and installing this invasive hijacking of your browser and the computer itself for the rest of your life.

The problem is that this was a challenge to a specific advertising company's pop-up software and could not affect other products or companies not named in the lawsuit. The judge, apparently well familiarized with the annoyance of pop-ups, did not find that this particular company's software was distributed in the 'misleading' or 'deceptive' ways you claim that others are downloaded.

Do you ever get tired of being every bit as guilty of spreading misinformation as those whose misinformation you purport to be against? Even just a little? You certainly beat your opponents in Chicken Little 'This makes it legal for them to bust your door down without a warrant and have sex with your wife and daughter' type alarmist hysteria.